Hinged roofs are commonly employed in the transportable sections of modular or manufactured (mobile) homes. Roof structures that are either partially or fully hinged are commonly utilized with mobile homes for allowing transportability thereof over public highways so as to easily pass under bridges, overpasses, power lines, and the like, but can be raised at the installation site to provide an aesthetically pleasing, peaked roof While there are many different types of hinged roof structures, they all share the common aspect that at the installation site, the hinged roof portions must be raised together to prevent undue bowing or distortion of the roof structure and corresponding damage thereto. It can be appreciated that the raising operation is no small task, in that many mobile homes, and thus the roof structures thereof, may be fifty-five feet or greater in length. A commonly used technique to raise a hinged roof structure is to employ a plurality of mechanical or hydraulic jacks, spaced about ten feet apart, and wedged between a lower stationary support beam and the hinged portion of the roof. The jacks can be operated simultaneously by plural workers to raise the roof sections in unison to the desired height. In the alternative, one person could raise each jack a small amount, thereby reducing the manpower but substantially increasing the amount of time required to complete the operation. In certain situations, the hinged portion of the roof must be raised somewhat higher than its final position to thereby allow vertical roof supports to be placed between the stationary ridgebeam and the raised roof Then, the roof is lowered onto the vertical supports and fastened thereto. As can be appreciated, this technique necessitates the separate shipping and handling of the jacks, as well as the vertical supports. It is not uncommon that these separate pieces, even if shipped with the mobile home itself, become lost, damaged or mislaid, thereby delaying the installation operation.
According to other installation techniques, the vertical roof support members, which may be two-by-fours, or the like, are fastened in a hinged manner to the rafters of the hinged roof structure. Thus, when the roof is raised upwardly, the vertical roof support members are hinged downwardly and then fastened to the stationary ridge support beam. While this technique facilitates the installation, many of the same disadvantages noted above are still present.
From the forgoing, it can be seen that a new technique is needed for easily raising all sections of a hinged roof simultaneously, with only one worker required. Another need exists for roof raising apparatus employed with a hinged roof so that it cannot be over-raised, thereby reducing the potential harm to the roof structure. Another need exists for a structure and apparatus utilized for raising a hinged roof, where the raising apparatus remains as the principal support of the roof after raising thereof. Yet another need exists for a structure and apparatus for raising a hinged roof, where all the parts can be fastened to the roof structure at the manufacturing facility, and no further assembly is required at the installation site.